I cast a blast spell, you say: how high?

[Danceofmasks]

LOL

Well, I think cube shapes for all AoE effects is fair for everyone.
And if you don't want it to hit high, just lower the blast into the ground abit.

 

[ryryguy]

My blasts extend not only into the third dimension but also the fourth. They can hit creatures that will not actually be in the area until next Tuesday. (as long as they are not also flying.)

This makes it easy to avoid hitting the fighter.

 

[eamon]

The 3d rules state that vertical distances are counted just like other distances, which means that effects which cover a certain area and thus extend a certain range do so in all dimensions equally.

In other words, it's just like 3e and squares are actually cubes.

 

[VannATLC]

Somebody who is arguing blasts are cubes... please tell me why blast and burst use such different phrasing, with burst having the clear distinction of 'all directions'..

 

[Sonic Boyster]

I find it delightfully ironic that a number of the same people who complain that Fourth Edition isn't as good as Third Edition because it's overly simplified are entirely incapable of interpreting a rule to explain area of effect attacks. No, no, it'd be far to hard to just take the easy route and turn the effects into cubes.

It's either ironic in the sense that people who can't even make heads or tails of these simplified rules seem to want even more of them, or poetic in that they need rules to cover every possible situation that could arise because they can't think for themselves. I realize it's simple and they could have afforded to waste a few extra lines of fluff text to describe somebody getting attacked on a higher plane, but I imagine the play testers skipped over it because it felt like common sense at the time.

If it is ranged (or burst) it happens in a cube, and if it is melee, go ahead and put a little bit of power into the ol' noggin and make a sensible decision. Just as the CustServ, PHB, and DMs Guide all mention, in the end it comes down to DM discretion, so if you come up with that issue go ahead and make a decision that makes sense for you and go with it. Don't nitpick over whether or not the little cubes on the extreme corners of the cube are supposed to hit seeing as how a real AOE would more likely be spherical... that kind of math is intentionally left out of this edition.

 

[webrunner]

You almost always need to know how high something is flying, unless there are no ranged attackers, nobody that can knock the dragon prone, and the dragon never wants to get close enough to melee while stying high enough to avoid most melee himself.

In 99% of cases the dragon will be:
1) in ranged range
2) either "in melee range" or "not in melee range" which is somehing the DM pretty much can just decide.

The dragon is as high is it needs to be given what's going on. Close enough to the ground to do it's melee attack, or close enough to the ground to do it's breath weapon, or far enough away to be safe from melee. You're not supposed to break out the vertical-marker d4s every time someone has wings.

 

[Particle_Man]

I find it delightfully ironic that a number of the same people who complain that Fourth Edition isn't as good as Third Edition because it's overly simplified are entirely incapable of interpreting a rule to explain area of effect attacks. No, no, it'd be far to hard to just take the easy route and turn the effects into cubes.

Given that this sort of comment could be applied to every single rules question about 4e, what the *hell* are you doing in the "D&D 4th Edition Rules" forum?

 

[James McMurray]

Hmmm...CustServ (that is, Tony) decided to bail on me:

"What about meelee bursts by a fighter, or rogue exploits that are ranged bursts? Do they also extend to hit flying creatures indefinitely high (the idea being they are considered to be in that space), like you have ruled spells do?"


[sblock=]Greetings,

Complex rule interactions should always be, quite frankly, adjudicated by your Dungeon Master. However there are a few sources beyond the rule books that you and your Dungeon Master can use to determine the most usable and fun solution for your game.

You may want to start by checking out our FAQ and errata documents online at our website.

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rules

Many players and Dungeon Masters also read and ask questions on our message boards and chat rooms to discover what other Dungeon Masters have done in similar situations.

http://boards1.wizards.com/community_home.php

Your Dungeon Master is ultimately responsible for deciding how he/she wants to handle any such issue however, and with all the tools currently available it should be relatively easy to adjudicate this matter fairly, as well as in the spirit of making the game as fun as it can be.[/sblock]

That's an incredibly elaborate way to say "I have no idea."

 

[James McMurray]

In 99% of cases the dragon will be:
1) in ranged range
2) either "in melee range" or "not in melee range" which is somehing the DM pretty much can just decide.

The dragon is as high is it needs to be given what's going on. Close enough to the ground to do it's melee attack, or close enough to the ground to do it's breath weapon, or far enough away to be safe from melee. You're not supposed to break out the vertical-marker d4s every time someone has wings.

Sorry "as high as it needs to be" won't cut it with all players (including me in many situations). If it's flying, is it flying high enough that javelins are short range? If so, what's my Jump DC to be able to get a melee attack? If not, are they long range? Is my bow long or short range? Which spells will reach it?

These are all important questions which need more than "it's some indeterminate distance above the ground" to answer. Certainly you could ad hoc an answer every time someone has a new height question, or you could just determine the monster's height and save a lot of hassle.

 

[BrockBallingdark]

That's an incredibly elaborate way to say "I have no idea."

It's obvious that the Customer service guy is Eladrin, cuz he Feystepped outta that question.

BB